Improvement in till-lock alarm



2 Sheets--Sheet l.

l. F. BALDWIN.

Till Alarm.

` N0l'39193. Patented April 20, 1869.

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2 Sheets Sheet 2. l. F. BALDWIN.

A 9 Till Alarm. No. 89,193. Patented April! 20, 1869.

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JOHN F. BALDWINQOF NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Leners Patent No. 89,193, dated Amr 20, 1869. dfi/Mazza M fi IMPROVEMENT IN TILL-LOCK ALARM.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN F. BALDWIN, of Nashua, in the county of Hillsborough, and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Self-Locking Alarm-Apparatus, for Money-Tills, Soc.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of. the same, reference being had to the aceompanyin gdrawin gs, making part of this specification, in which- Figure -1 is a side elevation and section of my said apparatus, arranged with a money-till.

Figure 2 is a plan of the same.

Figure 3 is a plan of the latch-plate77 and latches,

Ahereinafter mentioned.

Figure 4 is an elevation of the apparatus, in the condition of being double-locked, as hereinafter explained.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

The object of my invention is to provide a secure selfoperating fastening for money-tills, 85e., and an alarm that will sound and give notice of any unauthorized attempt to unlock or enter the same; and

My invention consists of a set of latches, in a fixed position, and a catch-plate, provided with a corresponding number of reversible lip`s, with which said latches engage for securing the till, or. drawer from opening,by sliding in the usual way, and with a like number of keys, suited to operate and control each of said latches,

singly or in combination, so that, by reversing any order or combination of said lips, the opening of the drawer, or till will be hindered, and, except by aceident, prevented, unless by those having knowledge of the particular construction of the locking-apparatus,

andof the particular combination to which it is set, whereby the contents of the drawer, or till are secured from unlawful abstraction.

' For further security, my invention consists in so constructing and arranging the said latches and reversible lips of the catch-plate with the keys or devices which operate the same, that, if by accident, or with intent to enter, or open, one, or more than one, or all ofthe said keys are operated in the usual way of operating the same to enter,those of the said lips that are so set as to be ineifective for the opening ofthe drawer, dto., will, by the same operation of the respective keys which unlatch the particular combination of latches fixed upon to open the Shame, be instrumental and the means of catching their sharp edges into a serrated or toothed vface of said latches, and thereby becoming permanently fxedand locked beyond recovery, until each and every of the same keys are again operated at the proper time, and thus restore the apparatus to its normal condition, preparatory to unlocking the same by the original combination to which the apparatus had been set. And my invention further consists of a latch, in combination with said catch-plate, and a spring-hammer, which sounds the alarm by striking a bell, or like device, so that any swinging of the catch-plate by the sliding of the drawer in the usual way of opening it, without firstv unlocking the same, will cause the said spring-hammer to strike the bell, and thus sound the alarm, and so discover the attempt to open and enter the drawer, or till.

To enable others to make and use my said invention, I will proceed to describe the same. ln the drawing- L, iig. 3, represents the latch-plate, containing five latches, al a2 a3 a a5,.all swinging, by one end, on-the pivot d, subjected to the depressionI of the springs e e, as seen in same figure, andclearly in fig. 1, where the shape of said latches is more fully and clearly shown, all of which is secured in one position beneath the counter, or bench H, by screws, as shown.

4 The apparatus which engages and operates with said latches, as above described, is contained in a metallic frame, F F, which is secured in the rear portion ofthe drawer, or till T, with the alarm-bell B and its 11ammer A extending on one side of the same.

Within this frame, or box F, swings the catch-plate 1l.

On the pivot c, near the bottom, and to the uppermost edge of said plate, are attached the reversible lips n* n2`n3 n* fus, secured by screws fi.

These lips, as will be seen in igs.1 and 4, are formed with a sharp edge, t, the purpose of which will presently appear, and the said lip extends only from one side of its shank lt, by which it is attached to the catch-plate, so that, by turning or reversing the projecting lip to one side or the other, as shown by the lips nl n2, and n3 n* a5, iig. 2, in any order, the combination is changed, those only which are in the position of n n2, being available and eifective for releasing the latches from the catchplate, and opening the drawer, or till, while the others, n311," a5, only complicate the operation, and embarrass the attempt, as before explained, togunlock the apparatus, and open the drawer, 860.

The catch-plate is operated upon, to effect the unlocking of the apparatus, by the set of keys g) g2 ga g g5, which are levers, pivoted at b, held in the position shown in iig. 1, by the spring s, and operated by the sliding rods f, audkeys, or Iiimger-slides h, which place the keys g in the 4position shown in dotted lines in fig. 1, which lifts the latch a (also in dotted lines) above and free from contact with the V-edge of the lip n, (which would otherwise catch and hold it,) so that it may slide over the projecting palt of the lip, and release the drawer, so that it may slide to open in the usual way; whereas, if the said latches be not so iirst lifted, they would catch their serrated faces C on the blunt edge j of the lip n, and swing the catch-plate P, and spring the hammer-latch U, which strikes the belland sounds the alarm as often as the sliding movement to open is repeated, when the projecting part of the lip n is placed on the catch-plate with reference to the latch, as shown in dotted lines in fig. 1.

When the position of the lips fn is reversed, as 'n3 n* a5 of fig. 2, and as shown in iig. 4, the keys g, in their movement to open the drawer, or till, come in contact with the sharp edge t of the said lips, and push the catch-plate P back, at the same time lifting the latch above, as shown in dotted lines in fig. 4, and when the key is released, after accomplishing this, and it returns to its original position, (as shown in full lilies in the same vfigura) the latch, shown in full lines, drops, with its serrated face() in front of the sharp edge of the latch g, which catches in one of the nicks, or notches of the said face, and there holds on until the same movement of the same key is repeated, and the latches thereby liberated and lifted from contact with the lip n o'f the catch-plate, and then the proper combination of keys y is pulled, and the drawer, &c., by that means opened, the said catching of the sharpedge tproducing a change of the combination, which has first to be reversed and returned to its normal condition before the drawer can b e opened even by means of the particular combination of keys intended and set for that purpose.

This function of the locking-apparatus, as above described, when, by the manipulation or operation ofthe wrong key, or set of keys, is made the means of the sharp edge ofthe lips catching upon-the serrated face or faces of the latches, is called the double-locking, because each and all of the latches must first be returned to their original position, before the unlocking ofthe drawer can be accomplished.

'.Lhe alarm-apparatus consists of a bell, or gong, B, struck by the spring-hammer A, that vibrates on the pivot p, assisted by the spiral-spring m.

lOn the catch-plate there is a spring-latch, x, that catches the end of the projection U on the spring-hammer. As' the catch-plate moves forward, the hammer is drawn back, and then being released strikes the bell to sound the alarm.

Finally, if by the attempt to slide the drawer, or money-till, without first touching the v'said keys, the catch-plate P is swung, by the latches a, and the bell sounds the alarm, and if other than a iixed combination of the said keys is pulled, the same effect is produced, and, at the same time, the drawer, or till Ibecomes doubly locked, so that no effort, except a repetition of the same combination, and, after that, the operation ofthe eorrect combination, can open the drawer, or till- O' lat'ms.

Having described my invention,

`What 1 claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The latch-plate L and latchesra, constructed substantially as described, to eii'ect both the locking and the double-locking of thedrawer, or till, as specified.

2. The swing-catch P, as described, and the reversible lips n, in combination therewith, to effect the changing of the combination which controls thelock ing and unlocking ofthe drawer, or till, as described.

3. lhe spring-latch x, constructed and arranged with relation to the swing-catch plate P, and 'the springhammer A, as and for the purpose. described.

4. The keysgl u, arranged and operating with relation to the catch-plate P and lips u* 2 3 5, as described, so as to control both the lifting of the latches li, to unlock the drawer, or till, and the swing-catch P, which prevents the unlocking of the drawer, except by a given combination, substantially as specified.

JOHN F. BALDWIN.

Witnesses:

IsAAo A. BnowNnLn, WILLIAM BROWNELL. 

